


Sometimes a family...

by JadenSilver



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Allura dealing with her bias against Galra, Babies, Family, Gen, Keith freaking out because he might be Galra
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-28
Updated: 2017-09-11
Packaged: 2018-09-27 12:11:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 10,445
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10020269
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JadenSilver/pseuds/JadenSilver
Summary: is a group of five lost humans, their magic robot cats, two space elves, and a purple alien baby.The team rescue a Galra baby. Everyone reacts differently. Sometimes they struggle to figure out how to care for a child in general. Sometimes they struggle coming to terms with what it means if some of the Galra can be innocent. Sometimes Lance just enjoys getting to play with a baby.(Honestly I just want Keith being all angsty while Lance and Hunk gush over something cute.)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Gosh, it's been so long since I've written something on here. Anyway, this takes place at some vague point during season 2, but before all the Blade of Marmora stuff. Keith isn't sure he's Galra but he suspects. They've all regrouped after the wormhole malfunction but none of the other plot stuff has started. Also, this story will probably not feature any sort of romantic or shipping stuff (maybe some mentions of Hunk and Shay, but it won't be a main focus in the story). This is just me wanting to write cute baby stuff and how the team would react. Hopefully you all will like it.

Hunk froze in his tracks as the rest of his team continued down the hall of the Galra ship.

“Dude!” Lance cried, being the first to realize he wasn’t keeping up. “What are you waiting for? We need to get out of here so Allura can activate the charges.”

“If the weapons on this ship make it to Kalara, the resistance there won’t stand a chance,” Keith reminded him.

“No, guys, be quiet,” Hunk insisted, waving his arms frantically. He was sure he’d heard something, but it was hard to tell through the blaring alarm on the enemy ship.

“What’s wrong?” Shiro asked. He wanted nothing more than to get off the enemy ship and away from the memories the familiar style of corridors brought back. But he could tell Hunk was serious about whatever he was doing. Shiro knew his team well enough to recognize that.

“I heard something,” the yellow paladin explained, voice soft as he continued to listen. “Like a-“ He broke off the sentence as a cry came from down the hall to his left. “There! See? It sounded like… like a kid or something.”

“But the info we stole said this ship doesn’t transport prisoners,” Pidge said.

“Maybe there’s, like, slaves or something kept here to work,” Hunk said. “Either way, we have to check it out. We can’t blow up the ship if there are innocent people here,” he insisted.

“Paladins, where are you?” Allura called through their helmets’ comms.

“Something’s come up, Princess,” Shiro answered. “We can’t leave yet.”

“Well, whatever you’re doing, you’d better make it fast,” she replied. “That ship is calling reinforcements.”

“We’ll be there as soon as we can,” he promised before addressing the team.

“Hunk’s right, we can’t leave innocent victims to die here,” he said. “Pidge, see if you can set up some kind of distraction. Make the Galra think we’re somewhere else in the ship,” he ordered.

She nodded, dragging a broken droid to a panel on the wall.

“Keith, Lance, get to the hangar where we left our lions and make sure it’s clear. We may need to make a quick escape.”

“Got it,” both men chorused, Lance pouting when he realized they’d been in sync. They then ran down the hall to the hangar.

“Hunk, you lead the way,” he ordered last. “Let’s find whoever you heard.”

“Thanks,” Hunk said as he began running down the hall. He knew it was risking the mission. The longer they waited to set off Pidge’s explosives, the more likely it was that the Galra would find and deactivate them, making the entire mission pointless. Still, he couldn’t stand the thought of leaving someone innocent, especially a child, behind. It was everything Voltron was fighting against.

“Which way next,” Shiro asked when they came to the end of the hall. A wailing cry answered before Hunk got the chance, coming from the right. They chased after it, stopping outside a locked door.

Shiro lit up his hand and slashed at the controls by the door as a group of Galra droids spotted them. “Look out!” Hunk called, activating his bayard. His machine gun took care of them quickly.

“They’ll have let more know where we are,” Shiro said, finally getting the door open. “We should hurry.”

The crying grew louder as they stepped into the room. It appeared to be living quarters, probably for one of the ship’s higher ranking officers judging by the size and quality of furniture. Hunk and Shiro shared a confused look. They’d expected to find cells full of prisoners, not a Galra officer’s bedroom.

In the corner was an egg-shaped pod, purple like most Galra things, sitting on a raised platform. There was a hole in the top at about chest level. It seemed to be the source of the crying.

Shiro lit up his hand in case of a trap while Hunk crept closer. He peered into the top of the pod and let out a small gasp.

“What is it?” Shiro asked suspiciously.

“I, uh, think it’s a Galra,” Hunk said in an uncertain tone. Shiro stepped closer to see for himself.

Sitting on a cushion in the bottom of the pod was what looked like a baby with large ears and purple fur. The fingers on each tiny hand were tipped with claws and it looked like there was webbing between the toes. The child was squirming unhappily and let out another wail as they watched.

“Uh, what do we do?” Hunk asked. “I mean, it’s a Galra, and we’re fighting the Galra. But it’s also a baby and I kind of still don’t want to leave it behind. What… what do you think, Shiro?”

Shiro frowned. He couldn’t remember ever seeing a Galra child before, even during his time as their prisoner. Maybe there had been some in the crowds watching the gladiator matches… He couldn’t be sure.

“We… we should take it with us,” he decided.

“Isn’t that, like, kidnapping?” Hunk questioned.

“We’re going to destroy the ship. We might be taking it away from its family, but the alternative is to leave it to die, or to call off the mission and let all these weapons make it to the Galra soldiers on Kalara.”

“Oh, right,” Hunk said thoughtfully. He reached down into the pod carefully, half expecting the child to scratch him with its claws. It did nothing of the sort, continuing to cry as he lifted it into his arms.

“We should get moving,” Shiro said, taking the lead as they ran back to their lions. Hunk made sure to duck and protect the baby while Shiro took care of any guard droids in their way.

“Everyone, get ready to go,” Shiro ordered through their comms.

“Did you find any prisoners?” Pidge asked, racing down a parallel corridor to the hangar.

Shiro glanced back at the child in Hunk’s arms. “We found something,” he said vaguely. “I’ll explain when we’re back in the castle.”

Keith and Lance were already in their lions when they arrived, Pidge reaching the hangar less than a second behind Shiro and Hunk. Her eyes widened as she saw the bundle in Hunk’s arms.

“Is that-?”

A shout sounded behind her, followed by blasts from multiple Galra weapons.

“Flying now, questions later. Let’s move!” Shiro ordered, waving her and Hunk toward their lions.

Keith and the red lion dove between the charging droids and their friends. They all reached their ships while he sealed the hangar doors with a spray of fire from Red.

Within minutes, they’d landed in their respective hangars in the castle.

“Allura, activate the bomb,” Shiro called as he ran to the bridge. Despite being done with the most dangerous parts of the mission, his adrenaline was still flowing, causing him to act with urgency he knew wasn’t necessary. He came to a stop at the Princess’s side just in time to see the ship blow up on the monitor.

“You did it!” Allura cheered proudly, turning to face the paladins as they all arrived. She was about to congratulate them further on the successful mission when her eyes landed on Hunk. “What is that?” she asked in shock. Pidge, Keith, and Lance all seemed to share her shock, staring at their teammate and the small child he held.

“Princess, we need to open a wormhole,” Shiro deflected. “That ship’s gone but their reinforcements are still on the way.”

“What did you bring on my ship?” she demanded.

Another Galra ship, bigger than the last, appeared on the screen behind her.

“We need to go, now,” Shiro insisted.

“I have a destination planned out,” Coran said, unable to see the paladins from his position at another console. “You need to make the jump, Allura.”

The Princess stared at the paladins with narrowed eyes for another moment before stepping onto the platform in the center of the room. Grabbing the two pedestals, she focused on opening the portal Coran had planned.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't have much plot planned out for this, so it probably won't be very long. I figure eventually they'll find someone to adopt the baby. If you guys have any suggestions for how it should end I'm all ears.

Once they were through the wormhole and safely away from the Galra, Coran rushed to track the ships they’d run from, relieved to see that they weren’t heading to Kalara.

“Looks like our new friends won’t be having any more trouble from the Galra, at least not for now,” he said. He frowned when he noticed the lack of excitement over the successful mission. “What’s going on?” Coran asked, moving to join Allura where she was facing the paladins. His eyes widened when he saw the bundle wrapped up in Hunk’s arms.  

“Where did that… that come from?” Allura demanded.

“Is that a Galra?” Pidge asked, trying to get a look at the baby’s face.

“Galra babies sound like human babies?” Lance questioned.

“You saved it?” Keith asked quietly, arms folded and tone unreadable.

“I… We couldn’t just leave ‘em, right Shiro?” Hunk looked to their leader for support. “I mean, it’s just a kid! It’s not like it could have ever hurt anyone before.”

“Hunk’s right,” Shiro weighed in. “We’re fighting the Galra empire, their armies and soldiers. Any innocent Galra we happen across aren’t a part of that.”

“There’s no such thing as an innocent Galra,” Allura claimed.

“But it’s a kid,” Hunk said. “Look at it!” He held up the baby which he had wrapped in a blanket while flying back. He’d smiled when Yellow had opened up a compartment he didn’t know she had and revealed the stash of survival supplies, including a soft blanket. He was glad his lion at least had accepted the child. The Galra baby blinked up at the paladins and Alteans, chewing a corner of the blanket thoughtfully.

Coran stepped forward and pulled out a medical scanner to inspect the child while Allura looked away.

“Well, Hunk, it looks like you’ve found yourself a healthy baby boy!” Coran said cheerfully.

“It can’t stay here,” Allura insisted, though some of the venom had left her voice. “We’re fighting a war. This is no place to raise a child.”

“Where else can he go?” the yellow paladin asked. “We can’t give him back to the Galra. They’ll raise him into a soldier.”

“Maybe someone on one of the other planets we’ve freed would take him,” Lance suggested.

“Would any of them even know how to take care of a Galra baby?” Keith asked.

“Do we?” Pidge replied. “I don’t know about you, but I haven’t exactly researched proper alien child rearing techniques.”

“Well as it so happens, I spent a summer working with my uncle at a nursery before the war, and there were all sorts of children there, including Galra,” Coran explained. “And biologically speaking, they aren’t too different from us Alteans, despite appearances.”

“What do they eat?” Keith asked curiously.

“Well, typically the mothers are able to produce a milk-like secretion-“

“Okay, that’s enough,” Shiro said, catching the grossed out look on Lance’s face and deciding to help him out. “Can it be synthesized?”

“Well, I don’t see why not,” Coran said thoughtfully. “I should at least be able to come up with a passable substitute.”

“Get started on that, then. Whatever we decide to do with him, he’s going to need to eat eventually.”

Coran nodded. “Pidge, Hunk, you come along,” he said, grabbing both paladins as he left. “I could use some help.”

“Ooh, I’ll help too!” Lance said excitedly. “I happen to be an expert in baby holding.”

“Really?” Pidge said skeptically.

“I told you my aunt had triplets,” he reminded her. “I had to help out with them a lot.” Their conversation faded into the distance as they left, Shiro smiling to himself at how well the team was handling the situation.

Allura waited until Hunk and the baby were gone before addressing Shiro. “You can’t honestly want to keep it,” she said.

“He’s a baby. He can’t do us any harm. And Hunk seems pretty attached to him.” Shiro rolled his shoulders, releasing some of the tension from the previous mission. “I agree that this probably isn’t the best place to raise a kid, but we might not have a choice. We can’t just abandon him.”

Allura frowned. “I’ll contact our allies,” she decided. “Maybe one of them will have a place for it.”

Shiro sighed as she marched back to the helm of the ship. He was about to go check on the others when he noticed Keith in a back corner of the room. Most probably wouldn’t notice anything off about his stance, but Shiro knew him better. He was upset about something.

“Hey,” Shiro said, approaching his old friend. He was about to ask what was wrong, ready for the usual resistance from Keith’s quiet nature, when he was surprised.

“She really seems to hate him,” Keith commented, watching Allura.

“She has her reasons,” Shiro said carefully. “I’m sure she’ll come around soon.”

“Maybe,” Keith said with a shrug. He didn’t seem convinced. “Do you think we’ll keep him?”

“I don’t know. It’d be best if he wasn’t growing up on a war ship, but we can’t be sure if any of our allies would accept him.”

“Or be able to feed him,” Keith mused. “If they don’t have the same technology Coran and the ship do, they might not be able to make something he can eat.”

Shiro nodded. He hadn’t considered that. “We might be stuck with him for a while.”

A small smile tugged at the corners of Keith’s lips. “I don’t think Hunk or Lance will mind.”

Shiro turned a fond look toward where they’d left. “No, they looked pretty excited. I’ll bet Lance has already named him.”

Keith continued to smile at the thought, though it faded again when he looked at Allura. Shiro felt some concern when he caught the look. A disagreement between the two of them could be unpleasant for everyone.

“Why don’t we go check on them?” he suggested, hoping to get Keith’s mind off their leader.

Keith stayed quiet for a moment longer. “Yeah, let’s go,” he finally said, sparing one last glance toward the Princess.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is super short and I'm not crazy about the ending. But the next section was too long to add to this and is also not finished yet. So this chapter is what it is. Also, I have kind of figured out what I want to do for 'plot' in this story. I kind of messed up the timeline of the show a bit because I forgot how soon Shiro remembers Ulaz after the team regroups. So I'm working all that out and having Shiro remember in a different way. But I'm rambling and you probably want to get on with the story so I'll stop now. Enjoy, and please let me know what you think!

“Lance, you can’t name him that,” Hunk argued, trying to take the baby back from his friend.

Lance easily danced out of his way with a spin, causing a bubbly laugh to sound from the child. “Why not? It seems like a great name to me.”

“You literally just named him purple! That’s not a name, it’s a description.”

“Uh, no, I named him Morado,” Lance corrected. “There’s a difference.”

Hunk rolled his eyes. “Fine, you named him purple in Spanish. It’s still not a name.”

“It’s kind of a name,” Pidge said without looking up from the machine Coran was working on. “Like one you’d give a cat.”

“Exactly! That’s not a person’s name.”

“Well, what would you call him, then?” Lance demanded.

“Uh… I don’t know,” Hunk admitted, thinking it over. “Maybe he’d want a Galra name. Hey, Coran, do you know any Galra names?”

“Aside from Zarkon,” Pidge said.

“Yes, please don’t name the baby Zarkon,” Lance agreed.

Coran didn’t answer for a moment, tapping away some instructions on the machine’s interface. “Well, as I recall, Galra names are rather complicated. It’d take knowing the parents’ names as well as a deep understanding of the Galra language to produce a proper one.”

Hunk frowned. “We don’t have either of those things.”

“We don’t have what things?” Shiro asked as he and Keith entered the room. The red paladin hovered near the door, arms folded in a guarded manner as he watched the child in Lance’s arms.

“They’re trying to name the Galra,” Pidge explained.

“Yeah, but apparently Galra names are super complicated, so now I have nothing to use to keep Lance from naming him Morado,” Hunk complained.

“You could just give him a name from earth,” Shiro offered. “Maybe name him after someone you know?”

“I don’t know,” he said uncertainly, taking the baby from Lance for a moment to study his face. The little alien made a burbling sound and kicked his feet. “It’d feel weird to give him a human name, you know?”

“He wouldn’t really fit as a Steve or Bob or something,” Pidge agreed.

“How, um… What about Kura?” Keith offered, turning the heads of most in the room. Pidge was watching in fascination as part of the machine began to glow and a semi-clear liquid filtered into a triangular bottle.

“Where did you hear that?” Coran asked in surprise.

“I overheard a Galra say it,” he explained quickly. “It’s a name, isn’t it?”

“Well, not exactly. The literal translation is a possessive term, like calling something yours, but it was often used as a term of endearment. Before the war, I remember hearing parents call their children Kura all the time,” Coran explained. “I can’t imagine why any of the soldiers you’ve fought would have said it, though. When did you hear this?”

“I, uh, don’t remember,” Keith muttered.

Before Coran could question him further, the baby began to make unhappy huffing noises which sounded like a prelude to crying. Lance snatched him back from Hunk and began bouncing him gently, voice shifting into a lighter tone. “Hey, now, calm down. Coran’s almost done making you some food. Just you wait,” he said soothingly.

Hunk frowned as he thought over the name. “Well, I guess it’s better than the alternative.”

“No it’s not,” Lance said, voice turning sing-songy as he tried to keep the baby under control. “Morado is better. See? He’s already happier just hearing his name. Aren’t you, little Morado?” he asked.

The little Galra seemed to relax for a moment before he started crying.

“Real convincing,” Keith teased.

“Shut up, Mullet,” Lance said, the insult lacking its usual bite as he still had his baby voice on. “That had nothing to do with the name. He’s just hungry.”

“Then it’s a good thing I have this ready!” Coran announced excitedly. He held up an oddly shaped bottle filled with semi-clear fluid and topped with something they all tried to convince themselves wasn’t a model of a Galra’s nipple. “This should appease our newest crew member.” He walked over to Lance and held the bottle up to the child’s face.

The baby refused at first, screwing up his face and turning away each time Coran moved the bottle closer. After the third try, however, he finally relented, tasting the offering experimentally. Coran laughed as not a second later the baby was sucking hard enough that he didn’t think he’d be able to get the bottle away again. He latched onto the bottle with surprisingly strong little fingers as he continued to food, grunting happily.

“I think he likes it,” Hunk said, relief clear in his voice. He’d felt mildly panicked ever since they rescued/kidnapped the baby that he’d just end up starving or otherwise getting hurt under their care. Now, finally, he at least knew they’d be able to feed him.

Coran allowed Lance to take over the feeding. “I’ll leave this synthesizer programmed for him,” he said, waving the team over to show them how to work it. “Just put one of his bottles under here, pres these buttons, and in a few minutes it’ll fill up.”

“Thank you, Coran,” Shiro said, sounding just as pleased as Hunk that the baby would be cared for.

“Oh, think nothing of it,” he said with a dismissive wave of his hand. “This is what Voltron is supposed to be all about. Helping little ones like this is what you were made for.”

“I’m not sure Allura agrees,” Keith said, still standing as close to the door as he could manage.

Coran’s face fell as he processed this. “The Galra have taken a lot from her, from both of us,” he said. “And she’s still very young, as Alteans go. She doesn’t remember the Galra from before Zarkon took over the way I do.”

“I was kinda surprised that you know so much about them,” Hunk said, hoping to change the subject.

“Oh, yes, I spent some of my school years studying on the Galra home world. They were Altea’s closest allies before the war.”

Hunk frowned sympathetically. “I can’t imagine what that must have been like, to have your friends turn on you like that.”

Coran looked surprised for a moment. “Oh, none of my friends did,” he explained. “Most of them resisted Zarkon when he declared war. The Galra who refused to follow him were some of the war’s first victims.”

“Not all Galra sided with Zarkon?” Keith asked.

“No, in fact most wanted to fight against him. Between them and the Altean forces, Zarkon should have been defeated.”

“Why wasn’t he?”

“No one knows,” he said with a sigh. “I think King Alfor had some idea, but he wasn’t able to say before…”

The group fell into a somber silence for a few moments before the baby Galra pulled away from the bottle and gave a loud burp.

Coran brightened up instantly, smiling at the child. “I think that’s his way of saying thanks,” he said, reaching out to take the bottle back. The baby grabbed his hand and began studying his fingers before he could pull away. Coran set the empty bottle aside and kept playing with the baby, smile forming wrinkles around his eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gee, I wonder where Keith heard that? It's definitely not one of his earliest memories where he can't even remember what the person looked like, just that they called him Kura. He totally overheard some Galra soldiers say it. Honest. 
> 
> Also Coran needs hugs. I want to give him hugs. Someone give him a hug for me.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This isn't nearly as edited as it should be but I've somehow actually managed to keep up a weekly schedule so far and I don't want to give that up. If I let that slip then it's all going to go downhill. Just ask the other stories that I've abandoned. So have this and I might come back sometime later and make this conversation sound better.

Shiro reached up and rubbed a hand down his face, feeling heavy with exhaustion. He thought about going back to his room, and the bed waiting there for him. He knew it was a good idea. He couldn’t afford to be this tired when the Galra could attack at any minute. But sleep meant dreaming, and lately dreams had meant nothing good for Shiro.

He paused where he’d been walking down one of the castle’s many abandoned halls, shifting to a defensive stance, when he heard a noise around the corner. He made sure to move as quietly as he could while he approached the bend in the hall. A quick glance revealed that the sound had come from Hunk. Shiro let out a relieved sigh, alerting the yellow paladin to his presence, who jumped at the sudden noise.

“Oh, uh, sorry, Shiro,” Hunk apologized, turning to face him. He had the baby Galra in his arms and was rocking him back and forth gently. “We didn’t mean to wake you. I’m just trying to help Kura get to sleep.”

“I was already up,” Shiro said dismissively. “Is he okay?”

“I think so.” Hunk didn’t sound as certain as he wanted to be. “Coran said he isn’t sick. I think babies just get like this sometimes. My dad said walking around helped when I had trouble falling asleep, so I figured it was worth a shot, you know?”

Shiro smiled proudly. “You’re doing a great job with him,” he said.

“Yeah, well,” Hunk shrugged. “He needs us. Lance and Keith were watching him earlier while Pidge and I tried to figure out how to make him a crib. We’re all doing our best.” He finished with a yawn.

Shiro held out his hands. “Want me to take him for a bit? You look like you could use some rest.”

Hunk frowned. “I could say the same to you. What are you doing out here, anyway?”

“I just… couldn’t sleep,” he admitted.

“Nightmares?”

“It’s not a big deal,” Shiro said. Hunk frowned and opened his mouth to argue, but Shiro beat him to it. “I’m fine, really,” Shiro insisted. “Besides, this isn’t something you should be worrying about. I’m your leader.”

“But you’re also a part of the team,” he argued. “We’re all a team together, Shiro. You can talk if something’s wrong.”

“Hunk-“

“Dude, you were the Galra’s prisoner for a year,” Hunk cut him off. “I know no one here really talks about it, or maybe you just don’t talk about it with me, but I know it happened. And, well, they took your arm, and those prisoners we freed said they made you a gladiator, and I know you don’t remember most of what happened but still…” he rambled.

Shiro sighed and gave in, blaming exhaustion for not holding out longer. “That’s part of the problem,” he admitted. “My memory, I mean. I don’t know most of what happened to me. I was told I’d attacked Matt and I didn’t even know why at first because the memory wasn’t there. I don’t even know how I got back to earth.”

“Well, you probably fought, like, an army of Galra soldiers and escaped,” Hunk offered. “I bet it was awesome.”

Shiro smiled, though he knew it looked forced. “I don’t think I did,” he said, eyes unfocused as he thought. “I… I think I’m starting to remember. It’s just bits and pieces but I think the Galra let me go.”

Kura made a fussy noise and Hunk realized he’d forgot to rock him while talking. “Come on, go to sleep,” he murmured, bouncing the baby gently to calm him. “What makes you say that?” he asked Shiro once the child had settled down.

“I remember being in a lab, like where they…” he trailed off, lifting his Galra arm in explanation. “I thought they were going to take the other one, but… I guess they didn’t. The next thing I remember, a soldier was leading me to the ship I came to earth in.”

Hunk frowned in confusion. “Why would they do that?”

“Maybe,” Shiro started, frowning in conversation as a thought came to him that he’d been trying to ignore for days. “Maybe they knew the Blue Lion was there,” he said, eyes fixed on his metal hand, refusing to look Hunk in the eye as he voiced his fear. “Maybe they knew I’d help find the Lions. Maybe they planned all of this so I’d bring Voltron to them.”

“What? No, Shiro, that’s ridiculous. Black picked you, remember? She wouldn’t do that if you were working with the Galra.”

Shiro shrugged. “Maybe. But Zarkon flew the black lion. And he was able to control her again during our battle. We don’t know that he didn’t make her choose me.”

Hunk shook his head. “I don’t think that’s possible. Allura said they’re sentient, magical machines. They couldn’t be controlled like that.”

“Allura also said no one, not even her father who built them, ever fully understood the lions. We have no idea how they work.”

Hunk continued to look at his leader with concern, trying to think of some way to reassure him. He knew, somewhere in his chest, like an instinct, that Shiro wasn’t their enemy. He hadn’t felt anything like that from Shiro during any of their mental bonding sessions, or any of the times they’d formed Voltron. He knew that Shiro was a good person through and through. He just needed a way to convince him of that fact.

Kura gave a small, high pitched yawn in his arms. The baby began to fuss again when he realized he was once again not being rocked by his caretaker. Shiro’s eyes snapped away from his hands then, zeroing in on the distressed noise. He began reaching out to try providing some sort of comfort.

Hunk smiled as Kura grabbed one of Shiro’s fingers and held on with surprising strength. Shiro let his hand be pulled back and forth by the curious infant, not even protesting when he was given an experimental, gummy bite. Kura quickly decided he was not food and instead continued experimenting with all the ways he could move the hand.

“See?” Hunk said, voice firm with revelation as he watched the display. “That’s how I know Zarkon isn’t controlling you. He doesn’t care about keeping innocent bystanders safe in this war. You chose to save Kura, and you care when he’s upset. Zarkon wouldn’t bother to make you feel that, so he can’t be controlling you.”

Shiro frowned as he considered the words.

“But what if-“

“Shiro,” Hunk cut him off, voice firm like it only ever was when he needed to shut down his friends’ insecurities. “If Zarkon could control you, we’d all be dead by now. There’s no reason for him to wait this long. You aren’t a spy or traitor or anything like that. You’re the Black Paladin, the head of Voltron, and we all need you.”

Kura made a happy coo in agreement, shaking his finger encouragingly.

Shiro took a deep breath before nodding. He still wasn’t entirely convinced. He still couldn’t make sense of his memories, couldn’t think of any reason for the Galra to release him other than a trap. But he couldn’t deny Hunk’s logic. Whether or not he’d been freed as part of some plan by Zarkon, it was at the very least clear he couldn’t be controlled now. The knowledge that he wouldn’t wake up one night to go kill his team filled him with relief.

“Thank you, Hunk,” he said sincerely.

“It’s no problem, man. We’re all family out here, you know? We’ve gotta help each other out.”

“Yeah,” Shiro agreed, looking down at the baby. “Family.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realized that in the show Shiro remembered Ulaz while in the healing pod after right after the whole wormhole incident, and that didn't fit into my story very well. So in this story he only started getting those memories back in the healing pod, and he's remembering bits and pieces more during dreams.


	5. Chapter 5

“So you want to support his butt here, and have your other hand on his back like this,” Lance instructed, moving Keith’s hands into the right places on the practice doll Coran had found. “And then just pat his back really gently a few times.”

Keith nodded and gave the doll a gentle smack, causing it to buzz and light up red in warning.

“Gently!” Lance scolded. “You’re hurting Morado 2.0!”

“Why can’t he just burp on his own?” Keith asked, growing frustrated as he was scolded by the buzzer again on his second try.

“I don’t know, babies just can’t,” Lance said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“Well why do I need the towel?”

“Because he might spit up, and you don’t want to try washing that out of your clothes.”

“Seriously, that stuff does not come out easily,” Hunk agreed.

There was a pause as Keith took a deep breath before trying again. The doll buzzed once more and he made a frustrated noise. “This thing must be broken.”

“It was fine when I tried it,” Lance pointed out. “You’re just hitting it too hard. At this rate, I’ll never be able to trust you with caring for Morado.”

Hunk grabbed Keith’s hand before he could make another attempt. “Like this,” he instructed, guiding him in a slow, gently pat. The droid was silent for a moment before making a light ping sound. “See? Just be gentle.”

Keith nodded, brow furrowed in concentration. He patted the dummy’s back again, this time receiving the same successful ping as Hunk had. After a second and third time the training droid lit up blue and made a burping sound.

“There you go!” Hunk said encouragingly. There was a small, proud smile on Keith’s face.

“Alright, now that you’ve got burping down, we can move on to the next baby thing you need to learn,” Lance said.

“What’s that?”

Lance hummed as he thought it over. “Your choice,” he decided. “Either I can show you how to change a diaper, or we can go find Coran and ask him how to bathe a baby Galra.”

Keith thought it over for a moment. “Would bathing really be different from a human baby?” he finally asked.

“Well, they do have fur,” Hunk pointed out. “That’s pretty different. Maybe they don’t like water or something.”

“Like chinchillas?” Keith asked.

“Or gremlins,” Lance added.

“Actually I was thinking of cats,” Hunk admitted. “But those work too. Either way, we should ask to make sure we don’t mess anything up.”

They all agreed and began searching the castle. Unfortunately, the castle was big. Even with only a few sections being commonly used, it could still take more than an hour to search, given the lengths of hallways between rooms.

“I wonder if Allura’s heard back from any of our friends,” Lance said, thinking aloud as they walked.

“Shiro said they ruled out the Arusians,” Keith said. “Kura’s already as big as most of them, so they wouldn’t be able to care for him properly.”

“The Balmerans said they would welcome him,” Hunk added. “But they won’t be able to feed him until he gets older and can manage solid food.”

“I guess we’ll just have to keep little Morado-Kura here until then, huh?” Lance did not sound at all unhappy with this plan. Hunk didn’t blame him, knowing that caring for the baby had been helping Lance’s homesickness.

The trio turned a corner toward an old storage room and heard a muffled shout from inside. All three shared a look before carefully approaching the door, ready for a possible ambush. They didn’t know how an intruder would manage to get into the castle, but after months in space they knew anything was possible. They wouldn’t take the chance on this.

Keith reached for the knife he kept on his belt and waved for Lance to stay by him while Hunk moved forward. The yellow paladin crept up to the control panel and prepared to hit the open button while Keith and Lance prepared for whatever might be on the other side. Hunk held up three fingers, slowly counting them down before finally opening the door.

Rather than a potential ambush or any thieving intruders, they found a pile of old Altean furniture with a pair of shiny boots sticking out from the bottom.

“Coran?”

“Paladins, I believe I could use your assistance,” he called from underneath the pile.

Keith stepped carefully around the pile, spotting where Coran was trapped. Luckily nothing had actually landed on top of him, but the pocket of space he was stuck in didn’t look stable.

“Hunk, hold that up,” Keith instructed, pointing to an overturned desk that looked like it could fall on their friend if the pile shifted wrong. Hunk quickly followed the order. “Lance, help me with this,” he continued, reaching for what appeared to be a bookshelf.

Under normal circumstances, Keith was sure Lance would have complained about him taking charge, but it seemed the blue paladin was just as worried about Coran as he was. Keith tried to assure himself that the older Altean couldn’t be injured. He’d sounded more embarrassed than pained when he asked for help. Still, there was a lot on top of him, and Altean furniture was pretty heavy.

“Okay, now lift,” he said, grimacing as he and Lance pushed against the weight together. They piece they were moving acted as a lever, shifting the rest of the pile up a few inches and giving Coran the space he needed to wiggle out.

“Thank you,” he said, standing up and stretching once he was free. Aside from his back popping, he seemed perfectly unharmed, and all three paladins sighed in relief.

“We’re just glad you’re okay, man,” Hunk said happily.

“What happened?” Lance asked, properly studying the storage room now that the crisis was over. “It doesn’t look like anyone’s been in here in years.”

“Ten thousand years, to be precise,” Coran corrected. “And I was looking for this,” he said proudly, gesturing to something next to the furniture pile. It looked like a small caged platform on stilts.

“Is that a crib?” Lance asked, stepping closer. The shape was different than what he was used to, triangular rather than the common rectangle, but not as weird as the egg-shaped thing Hunk described finding Morado in.

“Indeed it is! All we need is to find a cushion that will fit it and Kura will have a proper place to sleep.”

“Why was this being stored in the castle?” Keith asked curiously. “I thought this was a military vessel.”

“It wasn’t always,” Coran explained. “The Castle of Lions used to be dedicated to peaceful exploration of the universe, with the royal Altean family at its helm. They weren’t the only ones who lived here, however. Many of those who worked in the castle would bring their families with them, to ease the emotional and mental strain of traveling through space for so long. Because of this, the castle is equipped with many facilities to aid in caring for children of all ages. Cribs were often stored away and could be moved to a family’s quarters when needed.”

“Wow. People must have lived their whole lives on this ship,” Hunk said wondrously.

“Many did,” Coran nodded. “I myself was born in the castle, as was Princess Allura.”

“And now Morado’s going to live here, too,” Lance said happily. He grabbed the crib by the handles on its sides and began trying to carry it out of the room, only to have it slip from his hands. He looked down in confusion and noticed that both the handles and his hands were wet. “What is this?” he asked in disgust.

Coran hummed as he studied the crib. “I don’t know,” he admitted. “But this must be why I dropped it earlier. It slipped out of my hands and made me bump into a stack of old school desks. That’s how I got trapped,” he explained.

“We should make sure it’s clean before letting Kura use it,” Keith said.

“Yeah, let’s go wash this stuff off,” Lance agreed, holding his hands out on front of him so he wouldn’t get any of the odd substance on his clothes.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did I kind of screw up the timeline by forgetting the order some events happened in in the show? Yes. Will I take advantage of my mistake to make slightly happier outcomes for certain events? Also yes. 
> 
> So I'm kind of scrambling at the moment to get this story to line up with the plot of season 2. This means that some of scenes from the show will be more or less re-written in this story. However, eventually things should smooth over and the plot will more or less follow exactly what it was in the show. At that point, I'm going to skip over most scenes from the show (unless Kura's presence would change something drastically) and focus more on things going on in between the events of the show.

Keith hummed happily, mind filled with feelings of comfort, warmth, safety, and acceptance. Somewhere in the back of his mind he knew this was a dream. He recognized it from so many times before. But he still loved it, enjoyed basking in the feeling of being held while a deep, soft voice spoke over him.

“There you are, Kura, finally waking up,” the voice said affectionately. Keith couldn’t see whoever it was, his eyes were always closed in the dream. All he could do was listen and feel. Fingers that were soft like fleece and tipped with hard points he couldn’t figure out caressed his cheek. Keith desired nothing more than to stay in that moment forever. He felt a sudden panicked sadness when he realized this would end soon, like the dream always did. He didn’t want it to end. He didn’t want to lose this.

“Oh Kura, my Keith,” the voice spoke in a soothing tone. “Don’t fret. I’m right here. The dreams are over now.”

Keith frowned and shook his head. He didn’t want it to be over. He wanted to stay. Please, please, just let him stay. Just a little longer. Just until he could figure out who the voice was, where he was, what all this meant.

“Calm, Kura, calm,” the voice insisted. “You’re alright. Just be calm, my child.”

 

* * *

 

 

Keith let out a soft gasp as he sat up in bed, hand clutching his knife. He spent a moment staring into the darkness, expecting to see the owner of that voice, before remembering where he was. He breathed deeply, counting the seconds like Shiro had shown him, slowly reorienting himself into reality.

“Just a dream,” he whispered. “It didn’t happen. It’s just… just my imagination.” A shiver passed through him and he missed the warmth of his imagination.

He laid back with a sigh, hand holding the knife up above his eyes. Keith began to unravel the cloth around the bottom of the blade, releasing soft purple light into the dark room. He still didn’t know what the symbol meant. He’d asked his dad many times as a child and had never been given a straight answer. He’d even searched though the symbols of every language on earth, but nothing had ever fit. He’d never even seen anything remotely close to the style. Not until coming to space, that is.

He tried, once again, to deny the thought as it formed. It wasn’t possible. He was human, for fuck’s sake! It couldn’t be possible. But the dagger’s symbol was so similar to what he’d seen on Galra ships. And he’d known that word, Kura. He’d been having that dream for as long as he could remember, tried convincing himself it was nothing more than that. By the time he was old enough to form memories, it was just him and his dad. He couldn’t remember someone else.

Keith took a deep breath and wrapped the cloth around the blade once more, telling himself it was just to block out the light so he could sleep, not to hide what might be a dangerous secret. There had to be another explanation. He was sure of it.

 

* * *

 

“Princess, I assure you, I’m quite alright,” Coran said, standing on shaky legs.

“Coran, you slid out of your seat three times at breakfast alone,” she argued. “It’s nothing to be embarrassed about,” she added gently. “The slipperies are normal when an Altean reaches your age.”

“Normal or not is beside the point. I don’t have the slipperies,” he insisted, holding very still so as not to slide on the mysterious puddle of unknown origin that had formed around his feet.

“The whats?” Lance asked, watching the pair of aliens curiously.

Allura gave a quick explanation of the sickness while the paladins studied the castle’s helmsman. According to the Princess’s description, it was pretty obvious that Coran did have these slipperies.

Pidge leaned toward him to get a closer look, causing the baby in her arms to reach out for Coran’s mustache. The child let out a curious noise when the hairs slipped through his fingers and repeated the action, trying to make sense of this new sensation.

“Kura, stop,” Coran pleaded miserably.

“At least he isn’t pulling it like last time,” Pidge offered apologetically, stepping away so he’d be out of Kura’s reach. The infant let out a disgruntled huff at the loss of his new toy and tried rubbing his hands on Pidge’s face. “Oh, gross!” she complained as some of the leftover fluid was smeared on her forehead.

“Uh, is there a cure?” Hunk asked.

“No, though luckily it isn’t harmful,” Allura answered. “It’s merely annoying and sometimes embarrassing. It’s a short lived virus, though. I’m sure it’ll clear up in a day or so.”

“No, it won’t, because I don’t have it,” Coran said firmly, folding his arms in defiance. The movement seemed to upset his center of gravity and he began to slide across the floor and out the door.

“You’re sure it won’t be a problem?” Shiro asked, turning back to Allura.

“Not for his health, no,” she answered. “However, as you saw, it can affect his ability to move easily and interact with the ship’s controls. It would be wise to avoid confrontation with the Galra for the next few days,” she advised.

“That sounds like a vacation to me!” Lance said excitedly. “I’ll finally get a chance to check out that pool you were telling me about.”

“Oh, and I can get to some baking projects I’ve been putting off,” Hunk added.

“I guess we could all use a break,” Shiro said, looking to Allura hopefully.

The Princess smiled. “Of course-“ Her words ended when the castle’s proximity alert went off and the main screen displayed a Galra ship.

“Battle stations, everyone!” Allura ordered, stepping up to the raised command platform in the center of the room. The Paladins flung themselves into their designated seats, Keith, Lance, and Shiro instantly pulling up the controls for their defense drones.

“Should we use our lions?” Hunk asked.

“I don’t think that will be necessary,” Coran said, sliding into the room. He managed to veer around Allura’s station and stop at the helm. “This appears to be a transport vessel. They may not have expected us to be here at all.”

As he spoke, a hangar on the side of the Galra ship opened up, releasing a swarm of fighters. Behind this swarm came something else they didn’t recognize.

“What is that?” Shiro asked.

The bridge’s main screen shifted as Allura focused on this new threat.

“It looks like a giant, metal… Galra face, with arms and legs,” Pidge said in confusion. The mouth in its chest opened wide and began to glow before shooting a blast of energy at the castle.

“It’s another one of Zarkon’s monsters,” Keith announced, dropping the controls for his drone. “They knew we were here.” He stood and bolted for his lion.

“Keith has the right idea,” Shiro said. “Everyone, get to your lions. If this is anything like the others, we’ll need Voltron to defeat it.”

“Coran and I will take care of the fighters,” Allura called as the Paladins left. “You five focus on that beast.”

“Keep an eye on Kura,” Pidge said, shoving the child into Allura’s arms before sprinting to catch up with the others.

“I can’t!” Allura tried to argue, holding the baby awkwardly with one arm while trying to keep one hand on the castle’s controls.

“Don’t worry, Princess. I can keep the particle barrier up for a dobosh,” Coran promised, bracing his feet carefully to keep from sliding away. “You find somewhere safe for Kura.”

Allura looked around the bridge frantically. Unfortunately, none of the seats were designed to hold a child, especially not one who couldn’t even hold his own head up properly. She considered simply setting him down on the floor and felt guilt grip her chest. As far as her distaste for the Galra went, she couldn’t do something that would potentially harm the child. She knew what her father would think of such an action, and she doubted the other Paladins would tolerate it either.

“I have an idea,” she announced. “Coran, take care of things here until I get back.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Keith may not really remember his mamma but that doesn't mean he doesn't miss her.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had one of those weeks that nearly makes me give up on this fandom, so this chapter nearly didn't happen. Some people really need to chill out, you know? Anyway, here it is. We should be getting back to cute baby stuff eventually. Sorry for the massive mess.

“What’s the plan, Shiro?” Keith asked as his lion launched.

“For now, we stay separate,” Shiro said, leading the way to the robeast. “Keep firing and try to find a weak point. We’ll form Voltron once we know what we’re dealing with.”

The Green Lion rolled out of the way of a laser blast. “Those shots are powerful,” Pidge said. “But it looks like it takes a while to charge them up”.

 “Then it shouldn’t be too hard to stay  out of its way until we find a way to kill it, right?” Hunk asked.

“Agreed, just don’t take any unnecessary risks,” Shiro said. “There’s no rush here.”

“I’m pretty sure he’s talking to you, Keith,” Lance teased.

“We aren’t in an ocean, Lance. You’re more likely to have trouble dodging than I am,” Keith retorted.

“Hey!”

“I’m talking to all of you,” Shiro corrected in a serious voice. “Don’t underestimate a new opponent, ever.”

“Understood,” Keith said, chastised.

“Got it,” Lance added.

“Alright, let’s try-“

“Woah, woah, woah! Hey!” Hunk shouted suddenly. The rest of the team looked over to see the yellow lion drifting closer to their enemy while the robeast charged its next attack.

“Hunk, what are you doing? Get away from that thing!” Lance called urgently.

“I can’t! It’s… it’s pulling me in,” Hunk explained, panicked.

“Keith, Lance, help him. Pidge, help me distract it,” Shiro ordered.

The red and blue lions each flew to either side of their friend, grabbing the other lion in their teeth and firing thrusters the other direction. The pull toward the monster barely slowed.

“Guys, I think it’s pulling us in, too,” Lance announced.

“Pidge, on my signal, fire at its mouth,” Shiro said quickly. “Ready? Now!” Both lions fired simultaneously, causing the robeast to snap its jaws shut. Keith, Hunk, and Lance’s lions all launched back with the force they’d been pulling away.

Lance cheered until the creature’s mouth snapped open again and fired. He and Keith managed to dodge while the yellow lion took a glancing blow to the side.

“Agh!” Hunk shouted, feeling phantom pains through his connection with his lion.

“Hunk!” Lance shouted worriedly.

Each paladin stared at his lion for the long moment before he spoke. “I’m okay,” Hunk panted. “But that… We can’t do that again.”

“We won’t,” Shiro assured him. “We just need to find this thing’s weakness.”

“But none of our attacks have any effect,” Pidge observed. She fired blast after blast at the beast with no reaction. “It’s too tough.”

Lance shot a blast of ice at the robeast’s mouth, trying to hold it shut. The monster simply snapped its jaw open, shattering the makeshift muzzle. “My ice isn’t even having an effect,” Lance complained.

“It reacted when Shiro and Pidge shot inside its mouth,” Keith pointed out. “That might be its only weakness.”

“Great. So we can only damage it when it’s about to kill us,” Lance complained.

“Pidge, could Voltron’s shield resist that thing’s attack?” Shiro asked.

“I think so, but I can’t be sure until we try.”

“Alright, we need to form Voltron,” Shiro said. “Then Pidge can block its next attack while Keith stabs it with our sword.”

“Are you sure it’s a god idea to get that close to this thing?” Hunk asked.

“We should be fine with all of us fighting against its pull,” Shiro said. “It’s the only chance we’ve got. Now form Voltron!”

 

* * *

 

 

Allura sprinted into her chambers, snatching a shawl out of the closet and running to her bed. She laid the cloth out flat and set Kura down on it. “Now, hold still,” she instructed, carefully avoiding eye contact with the curious child.

She frowned in concentration as she began to wrap and fold the cloth, trying to remember each step Mother had taught her. She still remembered the day she’d been called to her parents’ room. Father had been busy and Mother was ill again. Allura had been sure she’d have to spend the whole day with her tutors until the summons came. She remembered feeling so happy. It was rare that the doctors would say Mother was healthy enough for visitors, and as Queen she’d usually had to reserve those moments for official business. Allura had tried to understand, truly she had, but it was still difficult as a child to be allowed so little time with one of her parents.

The smile on Mother’s face when Allura had arrived was one of her happiest memories. After catching up on her daughter’s life and how her schooling was progressing, the queen had asked if there was anything Allura wished to speak of. She remembered that earlier that day she’d seen a group of Father’s advisors speaking, and one had a strange sort of cloth bag on his chest. Allura could still hear Mother’s gentle voice as she’d explained that it was for holding babies, and then demonstrated on a scarf how the cloth could hold itself in place due to the woven pattern of folding.

Allura had been fascinated by the intricate design of the sling, especially when Mother had said she herself had been carried in one while an infant. It was one of the last memories of Mother that Allura had before she’d realized the extent of her sickness. Each memory after was tainted by the knowledge that Mother would die soon, leaving none of them as happy as the ones before.

Allura pulled herself from these memories as she finished tucking the last corner of the cloth into place, leaving Kura wrapped in a secure bundle while a loop of cloth was left to wrap around her back. She smiled proudly at the handiwork.

“Princess Allura?” Coran called through the ship’s speakers.

“Yes, Coran, I’m ready to come back,” she assured, quickly placing the sling across her chest. It held Kura in a position similar to how she’d seen the Paladins carry him, though it left her arms free to work. Kura seemed happy with the arrangement, dozing into a nap when he was once again held against a warm body.

“Good, because things are getting hectic up here,” Coran said. “I can’t keep the particle barrier up and activate the castle’s defenses from this station.”

Allura ran to the transport that would carry her form the living areas to the bridge. “What of the Paladins?”

“They’ve formed Voltron, but that beast is still giving them trouble,” he reported. “I think it almost ate the sword!”

Allura’s eyes widened at the thought. Voltron’s sword was attached to him. For it to be taken away, the entire being would have to be heavily damaged. “With their hands full, they won’t be able to focus on the extra fighters,” she said, trying to focus on her own duties in this battle. She had to trust that the Paladins and Voltron could handle themselves.

“I’ve managed to keep their attention on the castle, but I don’t know how long that will last,” he agreed. “We need to take care of them before they have a chance to turn on Voltron.”

“Then we will do just that,” Allura said, finally stepping onto the bridge. She glanced down quickly to check that Kura was still secure. She felt something, like disgust followed quickly by guilt, when she saw the top of his purple head held so close to her chest. It was an intimate position, an affectionate embrace reserved for loved ones and the children she may have one day had before the war. Seeing a Galra in such a place felt wrong to her, yet she knew feeling resentment toward such a small and helpless creature was wrong. She brushed off the distraction of these confusing emotions quickly as she stepped up onto the command platform.

The moment her hands touched the controls, the castle’s defenses snapped to attention. She could feel her spirit blur at the edges to blend with the castle’s own, forming a soft presence in the back of her mind. She reached out to this presence and began directing it to action, strengthening the particle barrier and awakening the weapons. Instantly they began firing at the fighters, taking out one after another.

“Are there any signs of reinforcements coming from that transport ship?” Allura asked once most of the fighters were gone.

There was a pause while Coran pulled up a scan of the enemy vessel. “No, it appears those were all the fighters it had,” he reported. “I believe it was an unmanned vessel, carrying only the beast and those drones.”

“Keep an eye on it,” Allura ordered. “We need to be ready to use the teledove if Zarkon shows up.”

Coran nodded, keeping a display of the transport ship in one corner of his station’s screen while focusing the rest on monitoring the battle.

“The Paladins are still in trouble,” he said worriedly when they’d finished off the rest of the fighters.

“Then we’ll do what we can to aide them,” Allura said firmly. The castle moved on her command, taking them closer to the beast. Once it was within range she opened fire. The blast from the castle hit the monster in the back, drawing its attention their way. It turned with its jaws open, its own attack already charged.

Voltron took advantage of the distraction and charged the beast once more, sword raised to strike. The attack bounced off its armored head without a scratch. It kept its focus on the castle.

“Princess, move!” Shiro called as the beast fired.

Allura willed the castle into motion, barely avoiding a direct hit as the blast hit the side of one of the towers. Coran lost his grip on the console and slid across the room while Allura was knocked to the floor. The castle drifted, buffeted by the force of the blast with no one at its helm.

“Allura! Coran!”


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the super long delay. Motivation to write has been really low for me for a while. I'm gonna try my best to push through it, but I really can't make any promises for the future. I do appreciate everyone who's stuck with this story, and that goes double for everyone who's commented and helped push me to keep going. 
> 
> I hope you all enjoy!

“Coran!” Shiro shouted, waiting for a response from the castle. “Allura! Are you alright?”

There was a moment when he heard no response and wondered what they’d do. He knew they’d find some way to defeat this latest robeast, but what then? Without Allura to lead the fight against Zarkon and show them how the universe worked outside of Earth, what would they do? Without Coran to watch over them, care for them and keep their lives in the castle somewhat stable, how would they go on? Would they even bother, without those two to push them forward, or would they simply return home and wait for the inevitable arrival of the Galra?

He only had an instant to feel all that fear and doubt before a welcome voice replied.

“We’re here,” Allura declared. Shiro watched as the castle’s path became focused again and knew she was back at the controls.

“Is anyone hurt?” he asked.

“Allura and Kura are fine. There’s a slight bump on the head for me, but nothing to worry about!” Coran reported as he carefully made his way back to his station.

“Good, because I need your help,” Pidge cut in.

“You have a plan?” Lance asked hopefully.

“Yeah,” she said, voice fading the way they’d come to associate with her rerunning some math through her head. “The only time it’s reacted to any of our attacks was when Shiro and I shot its mouth,” she explained. “That’s its only weakness.”

“But we already tried to take advantage of that,” Hunk reminded. “It nearly bit the sword off when we tried to stab it, and my gun didn’t really do any damage.”

“It closes its mouth before we can shoot it enough to actually hurt it,” Pidge said in agreement. “So we need to find a way to still damage it enough to matter even after it closes its mouth.”

“What are you thinking?” Shiro asked.

“I think we need a bomb.”

“Well, last I checked, Voltron doesn’t come equipped with a rocket launcher,” Lance said before glancing around hopefully. Unfortunately, a glowing button that would transform his gun into an explosive wonder did not appear on any of the consoles. He sighed. “Yeah, no rocket launcher,” he confirmed sadly.

“We don’t need it to,” she said before hitting a button to switch her communications channel. “Coran?”

“Yes, Number Five?” A tiny screen displaying the redheaded Altean’s face appeared. He looked disheveled with a slight bump on his head and his skin was still shimmery wet, but otherwise he seemed fine.

“Can you rig a pod to explode on my signal and fly it remotely?”

“Uh, yes,” Coran answered uncertainly. “But why, exactly, do we want to blow up one of our own pods.”

“We’re going to feed it to the robeast,” she explained.

Coran’s eyes brightened mischievously. “Yes, I think I can make that work,” he said. “Give me a minute to get to the pods and get it set up!” Pidge watched him slide off screen before her lion’s display went back to normal.

“Okay, so we have a plan. What now?” Lance asked.

“We need to keep this thing distracted until Coran’s ready with that pod,” Shiro said. “Let’s split up and work on keeping its attention away from the ship.”

The others chorused their agreement and Voltron deformed back into the five lions. Hunk kept his distance while Keith flew dangerously close to the robeast, drawing its attention and fire only to dodge out of the way before it could hit his lion.

“Be careful,” Shiro warned. “We don’t want to risk getting hit, and we don’t want to tip it off that we’re only toying with it. We still have no idea how smart these things are.”

Keith nodded and backed off a bit. After a few minutes and more than a few more close calls, Coran reported that the pod was ready.

“Alright. Get it nearby and get ready to fly it in the next time this thing charges an attack,” Pidge said, dodging the robeast’s latest blast.

A few moments later the pod was in position and Keith flew towards the robeast to bait it into an attack. Once it opened its mouth Pidge shouted for Coran to go and the pod zipped over. It got caught in the creature’s suction and soon the monster snapped its jaws shut around the pod.

The Paladins and Alteans all held their breaths.

Just as they began to worry that the plan had failed, the robeast’s head exploded.

Lance began to cheer and praise Pidge’s genius and was soon joined by Hunk and Keith. Shiro gave her some much more subdued but equally proud praise.

“Alright, let’s head back to the castle and assess the damage,” Shiro said once they’d had enough time to celebrate.

 

* * *

 

 

Lance began cooing over the sling Allura had made for Kura the moment he saw it. “See? I knew you’d warm up to him,” he said triumphantly.

“It is necessary to have both hands open while piloting the castle,” she said simply.

“Well then it’s cute and functional,” Lance said. “He looks so comfy, too. Aren’t you, little guy?” As he spoke his voice shifted into baby tone.

Allura slipped the sling off her shoulders and passed it to him wordlessly. She still did not feel comfortable seeing the Galra child wrapped in traditional Altean cloths, but the sight was less disturbing on Lance than it had been on herself.

“How did the Galra find us?” Shiro asked as he stepped out of his lion.

“Well, we really don’t know,” Coran said.

“It could just be a coincidence,” Hunk offered.

“Or they could have put a tracker on the ship during our last battle,” Pidge said.

“No, the castle would have detected something like that,” Allura argued. “If they are tracking us, it must be through some other way.”

Shiro glanced back at his lion worriedly before facing the team again. “It could be an isolated incident. We’ll have no way of knowing unless it happens again. For now there’s damage to the castle that we need to take care of.”

“That’s right,” Coran said, gliding across the floor to a computer terminal. He pulled up a holographic display of the ship. Various spots on one of the toward glowed red. “The ships self repair functions will take care of most of it, but the system that directs the repair droids is damaged. We’ll need to get it online again or else the ship will never get fixed.”

“Sounds like we’re going on a space walk,” Keith said.

Shiro nodded. “We’re already suited up, so we’ll go. Coran, you can direct us from the bridge.”

He nodded and zipped off to the bridge.

“Sorry, little guy. You’re gonna have to go back with Aunty Allura for a bit,” Lance said, hugging Kura close before passing him back to the princess. Kura made a soft noise and held his hands out toward Lance once he let go. “Aw, don’t worry. I’ll be back soon. I promise!”


End file.
